Submarine jacket.



L, Y. 'SPEAR & F. TJGABLE.

' S UBMARINB JACKET. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1907.

No. 894,757. PATBNTED JULY 28, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 894,757. I PATENTED JULY 28, 1908.

- L. Y. SPEAR & P. T. GABLE- SUBMARINE J AGKET.

T M 9 190. APPLIOA ION :LEDIMAY 7 4SHEETS SHEET3I 742% ATTORNEU I are detailed views of LAWRENCE YORK SPEAR AND FRANK TA YLOR CABLE, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.

SUBMARINE JACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Application filed May 9. 1907. Serial No. 372.704.

To all whom it may cone em.

Be it known that we, LAWRENCE Y. SPEAR and FRANK T. CABLE, citizens of the United States, residing at Quincy, Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submarine Jackets; and we do hereby declare the following 'to be a full,

clear, and exact description of thein'vention,

iers skllled m thee-rt such as will enable ot to which it appertams to make and use the same.

The submarine jacket may be used for' diving purposes or for any contingency where it is desired that a person should remain un der water for a length of time, but it is particularly designed as a life-saving device to be used on submarine vessels, and it is in tended that each member of the crew of such a vessel shall have his own jacket with which he may escape from the vessel and rise to the surface in an emergency.

The particular nature of the device will be understood from the following description; taken in connection with the accompanying drawings on which like reference characters indicate like parts throughoutthe several views:

Figure 1 is a sketch of a man wearing the improved jacket. jacket. lookingat the inside of the frontand showing the air )urifying chamber and associated parts in elevation. Fig. 3 is an elevalion partly in section of the chamber and the associated parts separated from the jacket. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the air purifying chamber with the inlet pipe removed. Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional air purifying view of one oi the seats by which the inlet pipe and the leading off pipe are attached to the air purifying chamber. Figs. 1 and 1 a valve mounted in the face of the helmet by which communication may be established with the outside air. Figs. 3 and 3 are plan views of the sheets forming art of the strainer, and Fig. 2 is a perspective of a nose clip.

' The jacket com rises a bodyportion A and a non-collapsible elmet B. The body portion may be made of canva. or any other suitable material used in the manufacture of diving suits, and it has on the front and the back, air chambers (1- provided with inlet pipcsd' by which they may be inflated. The jacket also carries a series of hooks b to which Fig. 2 is a sect-ion of the .tail in Figs. 1'

it has a strap 0 which passes'between the legs of the wearer and by means of the several holes 0 takes over an appro riate hook on the front of the jacket in ord er to hold the jacket in place. The arms end in rubber .wristlets d which fit tightly about the wrists of the wearer, and inuse these wristlets are commonly further sealed against the admis- SIOIl of air to the interior of the jacket by binding cords tightly about them as indicated at d. The helmet; is sutliciently strong to withstand the maximum pressure to which it may be subjected under water and is secured air tight to the neck of the acket in any ap propriate manner, as by a tight binding of cord as indicated on Figs. 1 and 2. In the face of the helmet there is a glass plate 0 for the ordinary pur )oses of observation, and at one side of this pi and l This valve comprises a cylindrical casing f welded to the side of the helmet and having the erforated top plate f and the upturried rim At the center the latef has a downwardly projected screw tireaded boss into which is screwed the stem of the capf. The rimf of the cap engages a gasketf, on the upper face of the plate f When the cap f is screwed down into place the valve is tightly sealed and when the cap is screwed up, air enters between the rinrsfiaml f", and passes through the perforations into the inside of the helmet.

On the inside of the front portion of the jacketis secured by appropriate straps the air purifying chamber D, comprising three separate tanks held together on a curved line to fit the chest of the wearer as. indicated in Fig. 4'by the inlet and outlet pipes h and it. Each of these pipes has three sockets h adapted to rest upon seats h on the opposite ends of the three tanks. The manner in which these parts are held in place and leakage is prevented is indicated by the section Fig. 5, from which it will be seen that the socket it rests upon a seat It, the gasket h being inter osed between the two. On the opposite si( es of each tank are smallbrackets h", adapted to grasp the hooked ends of the straps 71 secured to the cross piece h. cross p' as is provided at its center with a thumb screw it, the end ofwhich engages a depression on the upper face of the pipe and,

Wei hts are hun in the ordinar manner and f ate is a valvefshown in de-,

This 1115 material capable of absorbing carbon dioxid as will be readily understood, the screwing in of the thumb screws tightly clamps the ipes in place and by means of gaskets h, lea age is prevented.

Each tank is intended to'be filled with a and preferably Water also, and liberating oxygen for purifying and revivifying the air. The material which I prefer to use is that which is known as oxylithe P. S. and is acompound containing sodium and potassium peroxid and madeup of two parts of potassium peroxid to one part of sodium peroxid,

to which is added 2% of anhydrous sulfate This material is in powderedof copper. form and is separated from the inlet by a series of sheets which are alternately a sheet of wire gauze n and a sheet of perforated asbestos n, held in place by the plate 0 spaced from the inlet as indicated at Figs. 3 and 3 About the center of each tank in the body of the oxylithe is placed a sheet of wire gauze n, and at the lower end'of the tank and adjacent to the outlet is another series of alternate gauze and asbestos sheets n and a At the free end of the inlet pipe 7b, is a stop cock is of any appropriate construction, and

beyond the st'o cook the inlet pipe runs into this trap'lc by a union k by whic 1 the parts may be readily disengaged. The pipe is sufliciently still to prevent collapsingunder pressure and is continued up in the front part of'the helmet into a position in front of the mouth of the wearer, where it is provided with a mouth piece 7r. It is intended that the wearer should place this mouth piece inside his mouth and bite his teeth over the body of it so that he breathes directly into the tube W. The mouth piece is secured in the proper position by the bracket k The outlet pipe h is provided with a similar stop cock Z and union Z, and by means of this union is connected to a flexible pipe P, which is also non collapsible and is continued up well into the upper part of the helmet and secured in place by brackets Z. This pipe hasa free open end opening into the interior render the jacket air tight at that point and likewise fastens the bands 0 and attaches the e sary wci and inflates the air bags.

ag this p l he operation, the valve may remain in order that the user may breath the outside air. lVhen he is preurifyin chamber, takes the mouth-piece in is mout 1, attaches a nose clip such as shown in Fig. 2* to his nose, and enters the water. The water rising under the lower edge of the jacket compresses air within the jacket and the helmet and forms a water seal above the lower edge of the jacket. If the user has ontered thewater from a submarine boat, the air in the jacket will be at the same rcssure as the air in the boat and will usua 1y sulliciently exclude the water. 'If, however, for any reason it is necessary to further exclude the water, as when he moves into a place of high water pressure from a place of low air pressure, he may by turning the needle valve m admitair into the jacket from the tank on, thereby further excluding the water to the desired degree. Tlhereupon. when the user breathes into the mouth-piece, the carbon dioxid and the moisture of his breath pa into the )urifying chambers where the carbon dioxid is absorbed by the material and preferably also the water, and oxygen is given oil which is inhaled by the user. When the oxylithe P. S. above described is used thcrcartion may be expressed as follows:

1r ,o,+ 200., IQCO, moo, 20,,

The potassium carbonate thus produced is extremely deli uescent and the sodium curbonate is slight y so and the moisture of the breath will be rapidly absorbed by these materials. It will be observed that under these conditions all theoxygen which has been combined with the carbon to produce the carbon dioxid is liberated and the air is thus kept at its original purity.

It will be understood that, though we pref'er to use the particular material herein mentioned as the purifying agent, there are other materials which may be used for the purpose, such for example as potassium,-sodium dioxid, NaKO The weights hung from the hooks b may be detached to allow the user to rise to the surface, or the jacket may be otherwise manipulated. in the ordinary manner of driving suits.

During the breathing operation the other ends of the purifying tanks are connected with the air within the helmet by the pipe Z so that the air pressure is e uulized throughout the system and in the uugs of the user whereby there is no tendency for the pressure upon the air to too greatly ()Xl'lillltl his lungs. and secures the bands d around his wrists to What we claim is:

1. A watertight submarine jacket com prising a body portion, a non-collapsible holmet scoured thereto by watertight connection and ol sullicicnt capacity to form an air chamber about the head of the wearer, means for preventing the escape of air through the municatin with the interior of the jacket, arms when the jacket is sealed at the bottom substantia ly as described. by rising water, and means for revivifying the 6. 'A Watertight. submarine jacket com-- air Within the jacket, substantially as de- I prising a body portion, anon-0011a sible hel- 5 scribed. met secured'thereto by a watertig t conneo- 55 2; A watertight submarine jacket 'cointion and of suiificient'capacity to orm an air prising abody portion, a non-co la siblehel-l chamber'abo'ut the-head of thewearer, an met secured thereto by a watertig t connecair urifying chamber within the jacket andtion, an air' purifying chamber containing ma e u of a numberof sections, a mouth material capa and libera'tmg oxygen,a"mouth piece inthej om the mouth piece to the air purifying helmet communicating with the purifying, *chamber, and seats h on the several elements chamber and an outlet from the purifying of the air chamber, the so fl; the gaskets chamberin communication with the interior M and the clampihgmechanism adapted to of the jacket, substantially as described.- clamp the sockets against the seats to com- 65 3. A watertight submarine jacket compress the askes, and outlets from the other prising a body portion, a non-co lapsible helends of t e respective sections of the air met secured theretoby watertight connecchamber communicating with the inside of tlonand of suflicient capacity toform anair the jacket, substantially as describedrf chamber about the head of the wearer, means I 7. A watertight submarine "acket com- 70 for preventing the es'ca'peof air through the prising a body portion, a non-coila sible hele arms when the jacket is sealed at the bottom met secured thereto by a watertig t conn by risin water, a tank of air underhigh res tion, an airl urifying ch amber; containin sure wit in the jacket and PI'OXiLlGd'Wl'Dh a .material cap'a le of abscrbingicarbonjdioiu stop valve whereby air may be admitted inand liberating oxygen, a mouth"; iq ii f-theivs &5 gen, a mouth nliece within the helmet c'om- -.t1on,- an; .air .purifyin ch side the" jacket to expel, water at its bottom, helmet'connecting with the pur' ing cha V and means for .revivifying the air within the ber,ia,strainer in the chamber'inte pose'd jacket,-substantially as described. tweenthe inlet and the absorbin material,

4. A Watertight submarine 'acket 'comand an outlet from the purifying-c amber in prising-a body portion, a non-coi i met secured thereto by a watertig t connecsubstantially as described; v

tion, ,an air purifying chamber within the A watertightsubmarine --'acket com- 1 jacket and containing material capable of prisinga body portion, anon- ,l

absorbing carbon dioxid and liberating oxymet secured'thereto'qby aw munica'ting wit said chamber and an outlet material carrying pot from the chamber communicatin withthesodium peroxidy substa ntla y in pro orinterior of the 'acket, substantia ly as detions specified, a mouthpiece in the he met: scribed. v 'communicatin Wii;hth6 purifying chamber, 40 5. A Watertight submarine 'acket comand an outletf r prising a body portion, a non-co a sible hel communication with Qthemterior {Oflgijhj met secured thereto by a watertigli t connecjacket,.substantia1ly a described tion and of suflicient capacity to forni anair In testimony jwhere 'a'ffixour signa chamber about the head of the wearer, an .tures, in presenceof nesses.

air purifying chamber containin material '1' j capable of absorbing Carbon dioxid and %%X Y E8 %EE I liberating oxygen, a mouth piece Within the s helmet-and communicating with the said 7 Witnesses: chamber through a pipe containing a. drip H. A. COLES,

to trap, and an outlet from the chamber com- WILLIAM. HIDAvIsZ 1e of absorbingcarbon dioxid 4 iece. within the helmet and pipe leading la sible hel- -communicationwiththeinterioi'ofthe jacket, so 1 cm the purifying chamber-in 

